Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 4, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Feb 5, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effect of COVID-19 Emergency Alert Text Message on Practicing Preventive Behaviors: A Cross-sectional Survey in South Korea
ABSTRACT
Background:
To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated whether the practice of preventive behavior can be promoted by providing guidance to the public on how to respond during epidemic outbreaks via text messages. The battle to overcome COVID-19 is not yet over, thus, it is very important that the public practice preventive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Objective:
This paper examines the effect of reading emergency alert text messages on the individual’s practice of preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea.
Methods:
The data collection took place over three days (March 25–27) through an online survey two months after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed the first case in South Korea; 990 subjects were included in the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate associations between reading emergency alert text messages for each precautionary behavior practiced against COVID-19. Additionally, the indirect effects of reading the text messages on each precautionary behaviors via psychological factors (i.e., perceived risk and efficacy belief) were calculated.
Results:
This study included a total of 990 respondents, there were 475 men and 515 women, with a mean age of 47.0 years (M = 47.0, SD = 14.0). For reading COVID-19 related emergency alert text messages, most reported that they “always read the message and visit the linked site to get more information” (34.7%), 39.9% reported they “read the message from time to time and visit the linked site if necessary” (39.9%), 8.3% reported ‘rarely’, and 1.9% reported they ‘never’ read the message. Factors such as being male, younger age, and with a lower education level were identified as being related to lower frequency of reading the text messages. Respondents who always read the text messages practiced 1.79-times more frequently than those who never or rarely read them (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.02–3.14; P = 0.04). In terms of social distancing, respondents who reported they always read the text messages practiced “avoiding crowded places” 1.76-times more (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.08–2.86; P = 0.02) and “cancelling or postponing social gatherings” 2.48-times more (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.51–4.06; P < 0.001) than those that never or rarely read the messages. Efficacy belief of the behaviors mediated the effect of reading text messages on practicing the behavior.
Conclusions:
Our findings provide evidence that emergency alert text messages sent to individual's mobile phone are timely and effective strategy for encouraging preventive behavior in the public. Therefore, efforts to encourage people reading text messages should be implemented. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
Citation
